Freight coordination software provider Cartage announced on Thursday the completion of a $3.3 million funding round, led by Y Combinator, Garage Capital, Wayfinder Ventures, Northside Ventures, Pioneer Fund, and Ritual Capital. This financing will be used to automate freight operations for shippers and carriers.
Angel investors also participated in this round, including Paul Graham, founder of Y Combinator; Nate Smith, founder of Lever; Kulveer Taggar, co-founder of Zeus; Ian Logan, former partner at TMS Rose Rocket; and Caleb Gawne.
Freight bidding remains a traditional process with many brokers still relying on phone calls and emails to coordinate shipments. Cartage is aiming to change this status quo.
The team was founded by individuals with extensive experience in the freight industry. Co-founder and COO Harman Sahota grew up in the trucking business, starting his career as a freight broker at age 14, later founding and expanding Westcore Logistics, a logistics company.
On the technology front, Cartage’s other co-founders—CEO Abdul Basharat and CTO Josh Lampen—are early product developers from freight software startup Rose Rocket, where they built collaboration features for brokers and carriers.
The company’s mission is to introduce modern technology into an industry that has been slow to adapt. Rather than asking shippers, brokers, and carriers to change their preferred communication methods, Cartage integrates existing workflows like email and phone calls seamlessly using artificial intelligence.
“The industry doesn’t need to change for the technology; we believe the technology needs to change for the industry,” Basharat stated. “People won’t give up on making phone calls, they won’t abandon emails. But AI allows us to replicate this way of working, having it make calls and send emails, with human intervention only when necessary.”
This approach seems to have resonated with customers. Cartage reports that its customer base has doubled monthly, serving a diverse range from small shippers to large enterprises.
“What impresses me about Cartage is how the company uniquely implements technology without changing people’s working methods,” Chris Howard, founder and managing partner of Ritual Capital, told FreightWaves. “This is an intelligent, practical application of AI. The founding team combines real-world experience in logistics and technology, making them well-suited to tackle this challenge. They are focused on building something truly groundbreaking.”
The founders are optimistic about the current freight market, seeing it as an opportunity for much-needed innovation. The company believes shippers increasingly seek more transparent and cost-effective logistics solutions, especially with changing market dynamics.
By charging lower margins and passing savings to both shippers and carriers, Cartage aims to disrupt traditional brokerage models.
“I think traditional brokers often try to squeeze as much profit out of the carrier rates as possible. That’s not our goal. Our aim is to have excellent carriers working on our routes with fair pricing,” Sahota said.
Looking ahead, Cartage plans to use new capital to continue growing its logistics business and develop internal automation capabilities. The ultimate goal is to achieve touchless freight operations where the majority of shipments can be handled automatically, with human coordinators only intervening in exceptional cases and for escalations.
Source: FreightWaves
